The woman, vacationing on a sailboat near the Greek island of Folegandros, boarded an inflatable boat around midday on Friday to get supplies.
ADVERTISEMENTATHENS — Greece has rescued a 47-year old woman floating in a rubber dinghy in the Aegean Sea for nearly two days, coast guard officials said on Tuesday.
The woman, vacationing on a sailboat near the Greek island of Folegandros, boarded an inflatable boat around midday on Friday to get supplies. A day later, Greek authorities were alerted that she was missing.
They found her in the boat on Sunday morning some 40 nautical miles southwest of Folegandros, close to the island of Crete. Seven coastguard vessels, three private boats, a plane, and a helicopter were involved in the search operation.
"I was blown away, blown away in my dinghy," she said as she disembarked a coastguard vessel at the port of Iraklion, on Crete, where she received medical care as a precaution.
While out at sea she relied on candy for a meal, a coast guard official told Reuters without disclosing her identity or further details. Local media reported that she is an experienced sailor from New Zealand.